"Not Venice but not far off." Top 5 Page for this destination Nyaungshwe by planxty

Nyaungshwe Travel Guide: 53 reviews and 140 photos

Longtail boats, Nyaungshwe, Myanmar. - Nyaungshwe

A great base for Inle Lake.

I would think that the vast majority of people who come to Myanmar would visit Inle Lake, at least briefly, and it's certainly well worth seeing, it really is quite magical.

If you do visit the Lake, you have a couple of options of where to base yourself. The first option is to go to one of the upmarket, and consequently expensive, lakeside resorts. These are undoubtedly luxurious, although there are the obvious implications of this type of place in Myanmar.

The other option is to stay in Nyaungshwe, at the North end of the lake, and visit from there. This is certainly the way that most backpackers go.

I found Nyaungshwe to be a delightful place. Although obviously very much dependent on the tourist trade, it retains a charm and quite easy-going attitude. A short walk will take you to villages where Westerners are very obviously a rare sight given the reaction of the local people. There are a host of places to stay and a number of very good restaurants. It also has a good representation amongst the travel agent fraternity, and you can easily arrange any onward travel here, as well as all the local excursions.

Nyaungshwe obviously is a very water based environment. There are canals and boats everywhere. Just a word of warning - choose carefully where you stay! A waterside location may sound idyllic, but the longtail boats can be very noisy, and they start running early in the morning - not conducive to a good lie-in.

Altogether Nyaungshwe is a great base to visit Inle Lake.

It's just the VT way!

Old Temple, Nyaungshwe, Myanmar.

I mentioned trips on the lake and walks to the lakeside villages in the previous paragraph, and you may wonder why you can't find the tips included in these pages. The reason is purely technical. The VT directory (if that is the correct term) allows for pages on both Nyaungshwe and Inle Lake, although in reality, the two are virtually synonymous. Any tips relating to the lake or the lakeside villages I have included on an Inle Lake page and tips about the town proper are included here. Just to add a little further confusion, Nanthe, which is effectively a "suburb" of Nyaungshwe, also has a VT location, so there are a few tips there as well.

Hope this makes sense.

Last visit to Nyaungshwe: Feb 2006
Intro Updated May 15, 2009
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Reviews (16)

Linn Htat restaurant, Nyaungshwe, Myanmar. - Nyaungshwe

Great local curries. Restaurants (5)

This place is great. As you can see from the photo, it's no great shakes decor wise, but the food is excellent. the... more travel advice

Mong Li Canal, Nyaungshwe, Myanmar. - Nyaungshwe

It's not exactly Venice, but lovely... Things to Do (5)

The main bustling canals leading to Inle Lake are situated mostly to the West of town, but on the East side is the much... more travel advice

Bogyoke Aung San statue, Nyaungshwe, Myanmar. - Nyaungshwe

National Hero. Off The Beaten Path (1)

It's difficult to over-emphasise the part Bogyoke (General) Aung San plays in the national psyche of Myanmar. He is far... more travel advice

Old car, Nyaungshwe, Myanmar. - Nyaungshwe

airport taxi. Transportation (2)

When I was leaving Nyaungshwe, I flew back from nearby Heho airport to Yangon. The airport is quite a trek from the... more travel advice

Hotels (1)
Great place - beware the owner!
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Travelogues (3)

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Comments (6)

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hunterV Feb 19, 2011 at 1:45 AM

Thanks for your interesting place about that faraway destination.....
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mantru Nov 18, 2008 at 3:37 AM

fergy,enjoyed reading the travelogues...good ones...
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grets Sep 17, 2007 at 12:14 AM

What a great page! I particularly enjoyed your travelogues about walking.
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AlbuqRay Jan 13, 2007 at 11:01 AM

Fergy, through your eyes I can tell that Nyaungshwe is my kind of place.
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ukirsari Aug 22, 2006 at 7:24 AM

enjoy your travelogues very much, fergy :) and anyway i just back from yangon. meet up with zin. she's very nice person and we had great discussions in strand hotel yangon.
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mary2u99 Jul 26, 2006 at 11:03 PM

What is life without some adventure!! Mine is trying out weird foods. Deep fried scorpion is quite taste actually. Thanks for visiting my HCMC page. I saw a documentary once they have chocolate coated scorpions in London. Would like to try that too…hahaha